Cherry Red

Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But The Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.

Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company (similarly named after the song "Cherry Red" by The Groundhogs) founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens. In the wake of the independent record boom that followed the advent of punk rock, founders Iain McNay (who remains company chairman) and Richard Jones released the label's first single, "Bad Hearts" by punk band The Tights in June 1978.

Contents

Links to Peel

Iain McNay, founder of Cherry Red along with Richard Jones and Will Atkinson, acknowledged on the label's website the influence of Peel in helping the fledging business get off the ground as an early indie operation in the wake of punk:

Cracked(7"Single 1978)

"In 1977 Punk music was happening, and the three of us loved it. We promoted all the punk bands we could at Malvern; The Damned, The Stranglers, The Jam, Generation X to name a few. And then there were The Tights, Malvern’s own answer to the punk explosion. It was Richard again who persuaded me in the Malvern wine bar, on New Year’s Eve 1977, that we should start a record label to release a Tights record. On 2nd June 1978 The Tights first single was released. The following week it was record of the week in the now defunct Record Mirror, the week after that John Peel played it, and before we knew where we were we had sold our initial pressing of 2,000 records."[2]

Peel would subsequently play numerous records on Cherry Red, including its breakthrough release of the debut Dead Kennedys LP, 'Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables' (1980), which reached #33 in the UK album charts.[3] Not all of the label's eclectic roster found favour with the DJ, however, including indie chart stars Felt.[1]

A vital source of exposure for many of the new artists and labels championed by Peel, the independent record chart was an idea proposed by McNay himself to weekly trade paper Record Business, leading to the first official listings in early 1980, later licensed to Sounds.[5] A book of the indie charts between 1980 and 1989 was published by Cherry Red.[6]

After the business environment for indie labels grew tougher from the late 1980s, Cherry Red came to focus on releases with a collector's theme, including a football series with albums based around clubs, as well as series focusing on goth, metal and psychobilly music.[7] Early catalogue releases on Cherry Red that were played by Peel included vintage material from his 1960s favourites The Misunderstood. Following the lead of Strange Fruit, the label also put out many Peel Sessions Releases on CD.

Compilations

(Plays by Peel of various artist (v/a) releases on Cherry Red Records. 'Business Unusual' was produced in association with Zigzag magazine. 'Labels Unlimited' featured a small photo of Peel on the cover. 'Hybrid Kids' was actually a fake compilation, with all tracks performed by Morgan Fisher under imaginary band names. 'Wild Paarty Sounds Volume One' was a joint release with the On-U Sounds label of Adrian Sherwood.)

References

↑Although played rarely by Peel and never recording a session for his show, Felt had the second-highest number of albums in the UK indie charts of any artist during the 1980s, more than Peel favourites the Fall.[1]